Another use for Chromebooks

Given the choice, most people would likely choose a Windows laptop over a Chromebook if both were free. They're not free, of course, and Chromebooks have found an audience due to their low price tags and ability to offer basic functionality, like surfing the web and being productive in Google's ecosystem. In addition, you can now run Linux in a Window on Chromebooks.

Lauds Microsoft for being bold with Windows 8

Despite all the flak that Microsoft has drawn in recent times over Windows 8, its strategy of pursuing design continuity across traditional PCs and smart devices has won it a few admirers as well — some of them from unlikely quarters.

Time to change your password

If you're one of the approximately 1.8 million registered users at Canonical's UbuntuForums.org portal, then consider your login details compromised. You should have received an email from "The Canonical Sysadmins" this morning alerting you to the security breach that allowed a remote attacker to make off with your username, email address, and an encrypted copy of your password after breaking into the forum's database.

We show you how to build an affordable Linux gaming PC

The free Linux operating system has been around for ages, but its inherent complexity and limited support has always relegated its use to extreme enthusiasts, programmers, and other hardcore types. That might be changing, though, as a lot of loyal PC enthusiasts are less than pleased with Windows 8, and gaming juggernaut Valve has thrown its hat into the ring by launching a Linux version of Steam, its popular online content delivery service. Given the lackluster reception of Windows 8 and the renewed popularity of Linux, we decided to build a Linux gaming box to see for ourselves whether the OS, at this time, could be a reasonable alternative to Windows for gaming.

Note: This article originally appeared in the March issue of the magazine.

The Gazelle Professional and the Galago UltraPro both come pre-loaded with Ubuntu 13.04

System76 may not exactly be a household name, but the Ubuntu system builder has been in business for over seven years now, apparently long enough to have launched nine iterations of a single product. The ninth generation of the Gazelle Professional laptop has, in fact, just come out, as has the all new Galago UltraPro, “the world's first and only ultra thin laptop to feature Intel's new Iris Pro Graphics with 128MB of eDRAM.”

Mission accomplished. Sort of…..

Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth announced on Thursday that Ubuntu Linux bug #1 – "Microsoft has a majority market share" – is now officially closed. Rather than boasting about his victory, he gives much of the credit to iOS and Android. “Android may not be my or your first choice of Linux, but it is without doubt an open source platform that offers both practical and economic benefits to users and industry. So we have both competition, and good representation for open source, in personal computing.”

The Real 200th Episode

Remember how people were complaining that the year 2000 wasn't really the year 2000 and that 2001 was really the year 2000? Like that debacle, with us never publishing episode 150 of the No BS Podcast, you can similarly consider Episode 201 to be the real 200th episode if you feel inclined.

The newest version of Ubuntu promises dramatic graphical performance enhancements.

Canonical's pretty good about keeping its Ubuntu Linux distro up to date with frequent releases, the latest of which is Ubuntu 13.04, otherwise known as Raring Ringtail. Now available to download to desktops and servers, version 13.04 is being billed as the "fastest and most visually polished" build to date. Canonical said it particularly focused its attention on fine tuning performance on lightweight systems as it gets ready to launch Ubuntu to a range of mobile devices.

A Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition laptop with a Full HD 1080p display starts at $1,550.

Dell this week announced that its XPS Developer Edition laptop is now equipped with a Full HD 1080p (1920x1080) resolution display, upgraded from 1366x768. The upgraded panel is shipping to customers in the United States and now runs $1,550. Starting next week, Dell will begin offering the upgrade model to select countries in Europe, like the U.K., France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.